51
219.
The Commission will also taken into account the special impact of the armed conflict on
Afro-descendant women and children and will employ the concept of the international corpus juris for the
protection of rights of persons under the age of 18, in order to establish the content and scope of Article
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19 of the American Convention.
220.
In Admissibility Report No. 86/06, the Commission determined its competence to
examine the claim presented both in respect of the alleged violation of the rights of Marino López as well
as those of the victims from 22 communities displaced from the Cacarica basin, i.e.: Puente América,
Bijao-Cacarica, Quebrada del Medio, Bogotá, Barranquilla, El Limón-Peranchito, Santa Lucía, las Pajas,
Quebrada Bonita, La Virginia, Villa Hermosa- la Raya, San Higinio, Puerto Berlín, Puerto Nuevo,
Montañita Cirilo, Bocachica, Balsagira, San José de la Balsa, La Balsa, Bendito Bocachico, Varsovia, and
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Tequerré Medio.
221.
In their allegations on the merits, the petitioners have referred to 23 communities, the La
Honda community being the one that was not mentioned in the Admissibility Report. It is appropriate to
point out that La Honda Community is part of the Community Council of the River Cacarica basin, as
Resolution No. 841 of 1999242 of INCORA shows.243 This resolution is a public document issued by a
State organ, and therefore La Honda should be considered part of the communities displaced, relevant to
the present report.
222.
It is also appropriate for the Commission to state that to the effects of the present case
during the merits stage, the petitioners singled out a group of victims, including: Marino López and his
immediate family; members of the Afro-descendant communities displaced from Cacarica associated in
CAVIDA; the Afro-descendant women head of household displaced from Cacarica who are living in
Trubo, who are listed in Annex 1 to this report. The total number of victims listed in Annex 1 - not
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including Marino López and his immediate family - amounts to 446 individuals,
of whom 149 are
245
women and 117 are children or adolescents.
223.
Finally, the Commission takes into consideration that the State of Colombia has a Single
Registry of Displaced Peoples as required by Law 387 of 1997, in which a number of the alleged victims
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in the present case are currently registered (identified).
2.
Responsibility of the State under International Law and the Nature and Role of
Paramilitary or Self-Defense Groups
224.
Before turning to the analysis of the allegations on the violation of the American
Convention, it is appropriate for the Commission to consider whether the acts of the individuals implicated
240
I/A Court H.R., Case of the “Mapiripán Massacre” v. Colombia. Judgment of September 15, 2005. Series C No. 134,
para. 153, Case of the "Street Children" (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala. Preliminary Objections. Judgment of September 11,
1997. Series C No. 32, paras. 194 and 196; Case of the Gómez Paquiyauri Brothers v. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs.
Judgment of July 8, 2004. Series C No. 110, para. 166, and Case of the “Juvenile Reeducation Institute" v. Paraguay. Preliminary
Objections, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of September 2, 2004. Series C No. 112, para. 148.
241
IACHR, Report No.86/06, Petition 499-04, Admissibility, Marino López et al. (Operation "Genesis") Colombia, October
21, 2006, para. 37.
242
The La Honda community is included in INCORA Resolution No. 841 on the continuation of the collective title of the
Cacarica river basin Community Council of April 26, 1999. See Annex 1. Cited by Constitutional Court Judgment T-955/2003 of
October 17, 2003, p. 5. Annex 15 to the petitioners’ brief of March 10, 2008.
243
INCORA, now INCODER, is a State organ assigned to the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development.
244
Victim No. 275 in the Annex is not identified by name but only by number in the displaced persons' register.
245
Annex 83. Census of victims of forced displacement - Operation Genesis. Annex to petitioner’s brief of March 23,
2009. The children or adolescents are those who were indicated as "minors" in the list presented by the petitioners.
246
See displaced persons registration number Annex I to this report. Annex 83. Census of victims of forced displacement Operation Genesis. Annex to petitioner’s brief of March 23, 2009.